U.S. takes on Canada at the Olympic Center

August 31, 2013

LAKE PLACID - The United States under-18 women's team won one of its three games against Canada in a three-game exhibition series played at the Olympic Center.

After dropping the first two games, the Americans prevented the sweep with a 3-2 victory on Aug. 25. The U.S. used a three-goal second period to win the game. Taylor Williamson's power-play goal tied it just 44 seconds into the period, and Lexie Laing scored two more to put the Americans ahead for good.

In the opener, the U.S. couldn't match the intensity of Canada. Canada broke open a 1-1 first-period deadlock by scoring the final three goals of the game to claim a 4-1 victory.

Article Photos

United States forward Taylar Cianfarano, right, and Canada’s Breanne-Wilson Bennett focus on the action during a women’s under-18 national hockey exhibition game at the Olympic Center. Cianfarano, who will be a senior at the National Sports Academy in Lake Placid, scored the only goal for the Americans in their 4-1 loss.Lou Reuter/Lake Placid News

Karley Heffernan led Canada with two goals and an assist, Hannah Miller added a goal and an assist and Lauren Wildfang set up two goals for the winners. Victoria Bach also scored for Canada.

Playing on her home prep school rink, Taylar Cianfarano of the National Sports Academy netted the only goal for the Americans, scoring with 18 seconds left in the opening period to tie the game at 1-1.

The younger Americans, who have two 15-year-olds on the roster, held a 26-20 edge in shots on goal but could only get one puck past Shea Tiley, who made 25 saves to earn the win in net. The goal came off the stick of Cianfarano, who top-shelved a shot to beat Tiley on the short side of the net just 17 seconds after Heffernan recorded her first tally to put the Canadians on top 1-0.

Cianfarano, an Oswego native who played a solid game for the U.S., had a great opportunity to add one more goal in the last minute of the game when she was left alone with the puck in front of Tiley, but was unable to get off a good shot.

"This was the first time that a lot of players on our team faced Canada," said Cianfarano, who won a silver medal at the 2013 under-18 world championships. "We had a few breakdowns here and there. Mentally, we were out there, but we needed to play with more energy overall.

"Even though we are a younger team, we are a team that can put the puck in the net," she said. "We need to get better at doing the little things. That's how you win hockey games. As a 22-man roster, we are here for a reason. Our goal is to beat Canada."

With the win, Canada improved to 11-8 in the annual series, which dates back to 2007.